Dangerous Visions

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Dangerous Visions

Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author Edited by Harlan Ellison
Illustrator Leo and Diane Dillon
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Science fiction anthology
Publisher Doubleday
Publication date 1967
Media type Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages 544 pp
ISBN NA
Followed by Again, Dangerous Visions

Dangerous Visions (ISBN 0-425-06176-0) was a path-breaking science fiction short story anthology edited by Harlan Ellison and published in 1967. Dangerous Visions helped to define the New Wave science fiction movement, particularly in its depiction of sex in science fiction. The list of the authors' names reads like a Who's Who of 1960s science fiction. Ellison introduced the anthology both collectively and individually while authors provided afterwords to their own stories.

Contents

[edit] Awards & nominations

The stories and the anthology itself were nominated for and the receipients of many awards. "Gonna Roll the Bones" by Fritz Leiber received both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novelette, whilst Philip K. Dick's submission "Faith of our Fathers" was a nominee for the Hugo in the same category. Philip José Farmer tied for the Hugo Award for Best Novella for "Riders of the Purple Wage." Samuel R. Delany won the Nebula for Best Short Story for "Aye, and Gomorrah..." Harlan Ellison received a special citation at the 26th World SF Convention for editing "the most significant and controversial SF book published in 1967."

[edit] Sequels

The popular collection was followed by an even larger 1972 sequel, Again, Dangerous Visions. The projected third collection, The Last Dangerous Visions, was started but controversially never finished. It has become something of a legend in science fiction as the genre's most famous unpublished book. It was originally announced for publication in 1973, but other work demanded Ellison's attention and the anthology has not seen print to date. He has come under criticism for his treatment of some writers who submitted their stories to him, whom some estimate to number nearly 150 (and many of whom have died in the ensuing three decades since the anthology was first announced). In 1993 Ellison threatened to sue New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) for publishing Himself in Anachron, a short story written by Cordwainer Smith and sold to Ellison for the book by his widow,[1] but later reached an amicable settlement.[2] British SF author Christopher Priest critiqued Ellison's editorial practices in a widely-disseminated article titled The Book on the Edge of Forever.[3] Priest documented a half-dozen instances in which Ellison promised TLDV would appear within a year of the statement, but did not fulfill those promises. Ellison has a record of fulfilling obligations in other instances, including to writers whose stories he solicited, and has expressed outrage at other editors who have displayed poor practices.

[edit] Contents

Individual illustrations by Leo and Diane Dillon accompany each short story.

  • Foreword 1 - The Second Revolution by Isaac Asimov
  • Foreword 2 - Harlan and I by Isaac Asimov
  • Thirty-Two Soothsayers (introduction) by Harlan Ellison

[edit] References

  1. ^ "ConFrancisco Continued" (November 1993). Ansible 76. ISSN 0265-9816. 
  2. ^ "Infinitely Improbable" (December 1993). Ansible 77. ISSN 0265-9816. 
  3. ^ Priest, Christopher. THE LAST DEADLOSS VISIONS (TXT). Retrieved on 2006-03-11.

[edit] External links

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